All posts by Lisa Regula Meyer (71)

Lisa Regula Meyer (General Vagabond)- Lisa was born and raised in Lima, Ohio, now famous as the home of Glee. Reared on sixties and seventies music in the eighties, she still has an affinity for turntables and speakers taller than herself. After finishing two bachelor’s degrees at Ohio State Lima campus and being pronounced full of BS, she uprooted her husband and son to come to Kent and work on her Ph.D. in biology (just her- the husband is in history, and the son is in elementary). While dissertating and adjuncting, she began writing in a handful of venues, mainly for free music, pocket change, and to waste time she should be doing other things. Currently on the tenure track job hunt, she’s trying to stay busy and out of trouble, and is usually unsuccessful at this last endeavor. Lisa makes sure to warp the next generation through her own child and two surro-daughters, is a proud aspie, loves her husband and pet cat, and is great at doing what she tells others not to.

Vital Music USA, 2014. http://www.angelaperley.com A couple of non-music-related notes before I get to the meat of this review. First, my apologies to our musicians, readers, and other writers for the unplanned hiatus for the past few weeks. Secondly, The weather’s getting warmer …

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Simon and the Bande À Part. Blinking and Breathing. Released on Bandcamp, 2013. http://www.simonvangend.com Simon and the Bande À Part hails from Cape Town, South Africa, a country that (if it isn’t yet) really, really needs to be on your radar for hot …

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An Atlas to Follow. Golden Sun. 2012. http://www.anatlastofollow.com/ Hailing from Alabama and Tennessee, An Atlas to Follow is an award winning ensemble and creative powerhouse. The album begins choppily, with the first sounds being background noises and chatter before strings and vocals enter, …

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We Died at Sea. The La La Bird. We Died at Sea/Bandcamp, 2014. https://wediedatsea.bandcamp.com/ or https://www.facebook.com/WeDiedAtSea I’ve covered We Died at Sea previously, and they even made my year’s top list, so it should be no surprise that I jumped when I saw …

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The Blushin’ Roulettes. Old Mill Sessions. Cinnamon Bones Music, 2014. http://www.blushinroulettes.com It was a friend’s daughter who brought drew my attention to this band’s crowd Kickstarter campaign, and I fell in love. The campy silent film music video, the “very spooky Halloween countdown,” …

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Leyla McCalla. Vari-Colored Songs. Music Maker Recordings, 2014. http://www.leylamccalla.com/ Leyla McCalla might seem familiar to readers of Ear to the Ground, as she’s been with the renowned Carolina Chocolate Drops for a while previous to releasing her debut solo album, Vari-Colored Songs, just …

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Gretchen Lohse. Primal Rumble. 2013. http://gretchenlohse.bandcamp.com Gretchen Lohse is a Philadelphia native, and recently released her first solo album. She’s trained on the violin, but also plays a number of other instruments, and turns VHS home-videos into a source of sound for her work. …

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Carly Jamison. Ungrounded. 2013. http://www.carlyjamison.com Recorded in Nashville, Ungrounded has the presence of a Bonnie Raitt or Janis Joplin, with the complex sound of Bruce Springsteen, and the hard edge of Alanis Morisette. The whole shebang is quite a powerhouse of an album, a …

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NUA. Bold. 2013. http://trionua.com/ NUA comes out of Toronto, Canada, but their sound is a blend of Irish and Scottish influences- complete with bodhrán- and features both traditional and original, and they do it exquisitely. While the group might be new and debuting …